Holiday greetings! This is the time of the year when we think of friends and family both near and far. Life has certainly changed for us over the past few years. It is hard to believe that we have been retired for ten years. Although I am not sure retired is the right word. We still work a lot (mostly on things that are fun); we just do not get paid. It has been a fascinating journey so far with just enough unknowns to keep it interesting.

This will be our third Christmas in South Carolina. Life has been good to us here. Our health is good, we find more than enough to do, we love our time on the road and there is a to do list that goes out several years…the good Lord willing of course.

The holiday planning is well underway. Again, this year our family will gather here. The house decorations, the menu and the activity list are in the works. Both Jan and I love to cook and bake so we know that there will be plenty of food. There are several hikes and towns to visit so the task is to pick the best ones. The hope is for plenty of sun and warm temps plus safe travels for everyone.

The one holiday constant here is the Biltmore. Let us share a recent visit taking in all that the house has to offer this time of the year.

Here are some more Biltmore pictures. Every time we go it is different or we pick up on something we did not notice before. If you come this way, we would love to share the experience with you.

The summer travel adventures continue. This year the handle was called the National Park tour. Check out the blog post there are four of them that detail our adventure(s). The links to the blogs are on the right of the blog site under recent posts. Our journey took us to 9 somewhat obscure National Parks (at least for us). We made it to the Grand Canyon (north rim) and two National Seashores parks. We left here the end of June and got back mid-September. As usual the trip exceeded our expectations.

Link to the Blog Site: Larry-Jan-TVC.net Do check it out.

Summer Travel 2019 – National Park Tour – Part One

Summer Travels 2019 – National Park Tour – Part Two

Summer Travels 2019 – National Park Tour – Part Three

Summer Travels 2019 – National Park Tour – Part Four

Over Labor Day weekend, it worked for the Snyder brothers and sister Marilyn to meet up plus some of the next generation. If you are wanting to see how all of us are aging check out the blog post.

Snyder Gathering – 2019

History seems to tell us that we cannot go too long without some big house project. Our current house is great and fits our needs very well. However, there are things that annoy us and décor is not us. As a result, there is a list of things to change or do both large and small. It is fairly extensive as it covers projects both inside and out. The goal is to complete the list before hitting the road for the summer 2020. The good news is we are third of the way through the list to date. Here is a glimpse into what has happened on that front so far…

Our target for Thursday every week is to hit the trail, visit a regional town or at hit the big city. There are so many great state parks very close by, plenty of waterfalls and hiking trails. If you come this way, we can find plenty of good adventures.

Spring and fall are the best times of the year here. We love the moderate temps. This fall the weather has been awesome and the colors pleasing. South Carolina is a great place to be!

What is a “Larry and Jan” post without sunrise and sunset pictures?

Happy Holidays! Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

God Bless,

Larry and Jan

Joyous holiday and Christmas greetings from the Palmetto State. Jan and I love this time of the year as we celebrate the reason for the season and as we catch up with friends and family. The move has been good for us as we work through the lifestyle changes of living in one place and in South Carolina. It has been a lot of work, although the good news today is there are now more “knows” than “unknowns”. We love the Upstate area with all the recreation opportunities and living in the country takes us back to our roots. Our goals for the move have withstood the test of time as we strived to be in a moderate climate, good location and have more time to do the things we like. The move is now behind us and we are more than ready to spend more time doing the things we like!

Well the diversion of the move did keep us off the road. Well maybe not the road to Lowes as typical with the Snyder household there was a project or two in play. In the last month, finally there has been time to get out and explore and more importantly get back in the swing of things with the camera.

The opening shot is the guard lion at the Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, North Carolina. This is a Vanderbilt residence. This is one place that gets into the Christmas spirit big time.

What is a blog post without a sunrise? Here are pictures from our last day in Gulf Shores and Traverse City.

Our summer did have some down time while we looked for a house and then the six weeks it took to close on our new house. We started out at Twin Lakes a Corps of Engineer park. We loved being there but worn out our time welcome as we stayed way too long. After that we move to a private park on Crooked Creek which was less than two miles to our new house.

The new house is great. We love the location and the neighbors. As expected there is extra time spent on the road getting into town. We are just four miles from a small village, West Union and seven miles out of Seneca.

The average snow fall here is around three inches. Interestingly our first snow last week was five. The locals tell us probably no more this year. It only lasted a couple of days and today will almost hit 70.

Yes, there will be sunset pictures. Here is one off the deck in October.

Our new home is great. The layout is good for us and meets our needs. However, once we got settled my life of being a gym rat came crashing down. Being out in the country translated to a half hour drive to Clemson to get to a decent place to work out. There was a large unfinished room in the lower level which was soon determine could be transformed to solve the problem. Evidently, I lost my project planning skills as it took twice as long and cost twice as much as the original plan. That being said it turned out great and last week the project finally came to an end…

Being in the path of the solar eclipse was a great experience. Shored up my camera equipment just a bit. Although the equipment was truly lightweight was able to catch there “mood” of the event. Here is a selection of shots from the start to the finish.

Looking forward to having lots of folks come to see us either from the North or South. There is excellent guest accommodation for you take advantage of if you are passing by or want to make us a destination. Paul and Marty spent 10 days with us where we got to catch up with each other plus explore North and South Carolina.

Here are some shots from our recent explorations…

The Chattooga Belle Farm is a go to for us. Good food and lots of great produce. This farm was owned by Grouch Marx in the past. Setting on the Georgia state line is outstanding.

Lots of trails, falls and mountains very close to home. It is a short drive to Georgia or North Carolina. We are less than 100 miles from the Smoky Mountain National Park. Here are shots from a great trail on the Georgia State line.

Clemson University has a lot to offer. The South Carolina Botanicals Gardens are located there. It was a good experience for us. If you get the chance it would be worth your time.

Everywhere you go here you can find a dam. Lake Keowee just down the road from us is one huge body of water created from the many rivers and creeks in the area.

Over 100 falls very close to us. Here are some recent shots taken with fall colors as a back drop.

If you have not seen or heard of the Biltmore Estate check it out. Jan and I have done large estates before but nothing like this, it is truly exceptional. The estate is over 8,000 acres. We have secured an annual pass and will make this a regular stop this year. There are excellent hiking and biking trails. Christmas decorations are over the top. My favorite room is the library.

Every time we come back home the Airstream calls us as it is just sitting there. The travel plans are starting to fall in place for the coming year. There will be a trip South this spring and the plan is one Northeast this summer. Plus, there is a very long list here for the five-state area. Next year we are back to heading West, hopefully all the way to Alaska. We will see how it all come out. Still 15 National Parks to check off the bucket list. Just three more states to cover since we retired eight years ago.

Life is good…

Again, remember we love to have guests so look us up.

Jan and I send our best holiday greetings out to you and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Stay in touch!

God Bless,

Larry and Jan

Christmas greetings from Larry and Jan to all our friends and family!

The setting for our life-style are our base camps in the south, Gulf Shores and in the north, Traverse City. The retirement strategy (at least weather-wise) is to be somewhere that does not require a snow blower. So far that is still working out! Michigan is still home base, at least at this time. We are still enjoying and love our time on the road. We tend to get restless after a couple of months in one place though. The bulk of our time is spent on our many hobbies, planning for the next trip and spending time on the road.

Here are pictures of Larry and Jan captured at various points along the trail. The big milestone this year was our 50th wedding anniversary celebrated on Padre Island on the Gulf of Mexico. We find that retirement is a fulltime job and now cannot figure out how we ever had time to work!

This next section is devoted to family. These pictures taken in Michigan, Alabama, New York and Pennsylvania. We love to have folks come to see us or catching up with them along the way.

The pictures that follow are taken while at the base camps in Michigan and Alabama. We love the Grand Traverse region and all that it has to offer. Being in the south in Alabama, we have learned what a Yankee is! Although where we live on the Island the Yankees do outnumber those who hail from Dixie, at least this time of the year.

Our travels this year took us up the East coast in the spring. We spent four weeks on the road starting in Florida heading north to New York and then Michigan. There were many stops along the way, some were repeats others new adventures. Mid-summer we headed out for 9 weeks hitting Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Texas. Check out the link on the web site for all the details. The photos that follow are just some of the highlights of our time on the road…

Jan and I love our morning and evening walks. For the photographer catching that colorful sunrise or sunset is a compulsion and a technical challenge. Many of you already know I love those photos…a few to follow…

Merry Christmas Everyone,

God Bless,

Larry and Jan

Jan and I wish all our friends and family happy holidays from beautiful Gulf Shores, Alabama. Again this year the two of us want to take time out to touch base with those important in our lives. We send our very best to everyone this very special time of the year. The plan is to change up the mode of our holiday communication by foregoing the traditional Christmas Cards this year by going digital. Our web site allows for two way communication so let us know what is up in your life.

This has been a good year for us. Life in Traverse City is still great. Our decision to spend our winters on the Alabama Gulf Coast is standing the test of time. We are getting in touch with the South and the life-style in this part of the world. The community has welcomed us in true southern style and we continue to make many new friends all the time. Of course Michigan still calls us back every spring; especially when it starts to get really warm here.

After the first of the year we finally got to take a breath after finishing up the renovation and outfitting the new digs. Once that was checked off the list, the transition to being coastal snowbirds came easily. When we arrived back in October it seemed like home right off. However once March arrives our thoughts will turn to heading north so the cycle continues.

Our summer was great enjoying our time in Northwest Michigan. There was so much to do we just ran out of time. Our late summer/early fall trip to Utah exceeded our expectations. If you have not done so, check out our web site for a blow by blow account of the trip. Right now our winter plans are on hold for at least two months or more as Larry recovers from major surgery on his shoulder two weeks ago. On that front things are looking good so it just gets down to physical therapy, patience and time.

Our travel plans are starting to take shape for 2016. On the short list are a month trip up the East coast in the spring and a two month trip to the Pacific Northwest late summer/early fall. We love to have guests so if you are near us do stop in…we always have an extra bed or two.

If you come this way you will find there is plenty to do. If you like the beach, you will find the sun, surf and sand to your liking. Everyone here takes a week off during Mardi Gras. If you like to party there is plenty to do. Last winter we made trips to the National Naval Museum (home to the Blue Angels) and the USS Alabama. If you come this way we would love to go again.

As I stated earlier, our life in Michigan moves fast. There was lots to do around the homestead. We tried to get everything on the list done but the bike trails, the sand dunes and the micro-breweries seem to call us away all too easily. It was great to get together with the Snyder’s at brother Dale’s cottage and we hope we can do it again next year. We love the yard in Michigan and wish that we could duplicate here in the south but living in Condo limits us on that front.

Those of you that are close to us already have heard about the new Rpod which did not work and the last minute purchase of our Airstream. By the way we love it and it was worth all the pain and agony we went through.

Here is a collage of photos from our trip. We loved Utah and had a great time getting there and the final leg back to the Gulf Coast in October. The side benefit of the trip was catching up with Brother John and Brother Duane along the way.

Well here we are back on the coast. Going to the beach every chance we get.

Happy Holidays to all of you as Jan and I celebrate the reason for the season!

God Bless,

Larry and Jan

It is said variety is the spice of life! From our experiences this year, we find living the RV life-style is certainly a cool way to find adventure and have new experiences. We started the year as campground hosts at the National Seashore Park on Padre Island near Corpus Christi. Our campground was on the Inter-coastal waterway side of the island (Laguna Madre). One of the best wind-surfing locations in the US which draws lots of interesting folks. The weather was great (no snow). Our days were spent biking, hiking and on the water.

Not wanting to stay in one place too long, we headed out the middle of March spending some quality time in Galveston, New Orleans and Gulf Shores. In April we found ourselves back in Traverse City where we washed off the Texas dust and packed for a summer on the road heading north to Alaska, a trip we wanted to make for years. By mid-May, we were in Canada making our way around the North Shore of Lake Superior. The theme for this adventure was slow down, stop early and explore.

The Northwest Territories called us and we made it all the way to Yellowknife…that is as far as one can drive in the summer (the ice road being closed). Being early spring, there was a major washout on our planned route which translated to a 750 mile back-tracking adventure, lesson learned. Not having enough of the northern exposure, we caught the Alaska Highway, then the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay where we arrived one day short of the summer solstice. Yes, Jan and I waded in the Arctic Ocean. Two things that I can say about the trip…Padre Island was a long ways south and the Dalton Highway is definitely a once in a life time adventure! We can now check off the list all the Canadian providences and territories except Nunavut.

Finally we got down to experiencing Alaska. Our objective was not to leave any stone unturned, of course limited only by places that are accessible to one pulling a RV. The major stops were Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, and Kenai Peninsula, Valdez, the Inter-coastal waterway, Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and then back to the Alaska Highway. This took us a couple of months. By mid-August, we were off for a two week adventure in the National Parks in the Canadian Rockies, but it was not meant to be. In British Columbia, Canada, Larry was struck with a blood clot which dramatically took over our lives. After a fairly long delay in Canada we headed back to Michigan arriving mid-September.

To make a long story short, we are sidelined in Traverse City until March. Winter travel plans had to be revised along with securing a snow blower to deal with that dreaded white “stuff” which keeps coming every day. However, you have to admit winter paints a beautiful picture. Right now we are on track to spend April in Gulf Shores, Alabama with a side trip to Kansas for a much needed visit to the RV factory for a major repair. Next summer will be enjoying our home in Traverse City and then looking for adventure in Utah for a couple of months starting in August. Next winter will be spent in a way to give the snow blower a rest!

Jan lost her Mother in February. She had a long journey and was 100 years old. We miss her and life will certainly not to be the same now that she is gone along with the ties to the historic family farm. Karl, Mark and Cully made the trip from NYC to visit us in October. It was so great to have them here and share what Northwest Michigan has to offer. We are looking forward to a visit from Paul and Marty in January. Good news, Paul is now Dr Paul having completed his PHD work and Fiona has finished her Masters. We plan a trip east next year to catch them on their home turf and take in some city life. It was fun to catch up with the “Snyder’s”at a gathering at brother Dale’s cottage this fall…picture attached.

So as you can see…life is still good here! Keep in touch.

God Bless,

Larry and Jan

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Traverse City – 2013/2014!